Gerard Depardieu: biography, personal life and interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

Gerard Depardieu is an actor of the era, a "lump", an odious personality who made a colossal contribution to world cinema. He was called "the man with 1000 faces". He dreamed of becoming a butcher, but turned into a movie star and a successful winemaker. Even impregnable Hollywood capitulated to his charm. He wants to get the citizenship of several more countries. And he admits that he considers himself a citizen of the world in general.

In a tinker's family

Gerard Depardieu was born at the end of December 1948 in a large family. His father was born in one of the French villages. Later, he moved to the town of Chateauroux and began working there as a tinsmith. It was here that he met his future wife. They got married in 1944. The couple Gerard became the third child.

The head of the family was known as a good worker, but his earnings did not bring much income. Moreover, in those days, the Second World War had just ended, and there was practically no work, as such. The Depardieu family was forced to existfor child support.

As a result, Gerard's father began to drink frequently, and the mother, in fact, brought up and raised her children herself.

Post-war childhood

Little Gerard experienced a clear lack of attention and care from his parents. He grew up a closed and insecure boy. As a result, he developed speech problems. He practically did not speak and was forced to express himself with gestures. He also started to stutter a lot. Because of this, he complexed. At the same time, he studied quite well at school.

By this time, Gerard often came to the US military base, which was opened in 1951. Together with his friends, he talked with the soldiers, listened to new music for them and, most importantly, watched Hollywood films. As a result, young Gerard spent more time at the base than at home. Accordingly, all this inevitably affected his behavior and performance at school.

When he was twelve, he ran away from home for the first time. He traveled around the area, reselling American liquor and cigarettes, and doing petty theft.

Difficult teenager

In 1962, young Gerard decided to leave school. He began working as a typesetter in one of the printing houses.

In addition, being a tall and strong young man, he began to attend a boxing club. During one of the training sessions, his nose was broken. Subsequently, this became a characteristic feature of the brutal appearance of the future actor. He also spent the evenings in bars. And over time, his appearance and character began to enjoy a certain authority among his peers. He was already recognized by many.

Over the next year and a half, he traded, as before, petty theft. The police registered him. Once he and his gang friends stole fuel from a military base. Law enforcement officers quickly uncovered this crime. But since young Gerard was a minor at that time, he avoided criminal liability. At the same time, the future actor continued to engage in his criminal deeds. And in 1964, he still went to jail. He was involved in car theft. He spent three months in prison and started stealing again. Undoubtedly, his lifestyle would have had a very sad ending. But one day Gerard decided to go to Paris…

Acting school in Paris

The fact is that his friend was a student of one of the capital's folk theaters. In Paris, he was going to attend acting classes. And a friend suggested that he go to the city for company. And so it happened. Out of curiosity, he also started attending classes. Once Gerard had to perform a pantomime. And since he spoke exclusively with gestures for a long time, this task turned out to be very easy for him. The teacher and students liked this sketch so much that the artistic guy was offered to stay. This thought greatly inspired him. He began to get seriously interested in art, visiting museums, art exhibitions and reading constantly, thus compensating for the lack of education. As a result, he decided to enter one of the famous theater schools - the school of Jean-Laurent Cochet.

At the audition, the future actor performedrather complicated passage from one work. Despite the fact that his performance was more than unsuccessful, Cochet was able to discern the obvious talent in the young man. He became a student of this school. Moreover, he was not even required to pay tuition. Moreover, the teacher himself decided to pay for speech therapy treatment. And, as a result, Gerard stopped stuttering and corrected his diction. The grateful young man, who had not felt such attention and care since childhood, quickly changed. Cochet has never had such a diligent student. Gerard became the best pupil.

Becoming a film actor

After graduating from school, Depardieu began working in an amateur troupe of Cafe de la Gare. By this time, he had already begun acting. Of course, then he was trusted, mainly episodic roles. So, in the debut picture, he was embodied in a beatnik. He then played a hippie in the film Nausicaa. Well, at the beginning of the 70s, Gerard was already involved in some high-quality films, among which were the melodramatic picture "A Little Sun in Cold Water", the dramas "Natalie Grangier" and "Skumon: The Bringer of Trouble".

Glory

But he became famous when a provocative picture by Bertrand Blier called "W altzers" (1973) came out. In the film, Gerard Depardieu played Jean-Claude. The tape was provocative and outrageous. But, despite this, she enjoyed tremendous popularity. In addition, the tape managed to take an honorable 3rd place at the box office in France. As a result, the actor and director have become truly iconic figures in Russian cinema. They subsequently resumed their collaboration again. Together they managed to create five more films.

True, Gerard always wanted to play other images. He did not intend to remain in only one role. And later he was able to do it. We are talking, first of all, about two films by Gerard Depardieu - "Prepare handkerchiefs" and "The Last Woman".

80s

Gerard Depardieu's next successful film was The Last Metro. Note that he shared the set with the magnificent Catherine Deneuve. This work brought him the prestigious Cesar Award. At the same time, he began acting in comedy films. After that, he received another wave of popularity and adoration. Few people remained indifferent from watching the films "Tartuffe" and "The Razin Inspector". But a huge success fell on him when the actor worked on the site with Pierre Richard. The first work in this regard was the comedy film "The Unlucky". A few years later, Gerard Depardieu and Pierre Richard cemented their fame in the films "Papa" and "The Runaways"

Cyrano

By the middle, Depardieu was already a real movie star. He excelled in comedies, action films and dramas.

He met the beginning of the 90s just as well. It was then that he starred in the film "Cyrano de Bergerac". At the same time, he played the main character. According to him, for him the role of Cyrano is unconditionally beloved. Depardieu has once again proved that he is brilliantly capable of transforming into completely different images.

For thisThe role of the actor was awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. And the work itself received the Oscar, Palm Branch, Cesar and many other awards.

Hollywood actor

After the triumphant film about Cyrano, Hollywood opened its doors to the actor. So, he took part in the film "Residence Permit". And the brilliant Andie MacDowell became a partner on the site. For his performance in the film, Depardieu received the Golden Globe.

Later he starred in the comedy film "Between an angel and a demon." He played in tandem with Christian Clavier. This duet made the audience laugh to tears.

In the late 90s, the film "The Count of Monte Cristo" with Gerard Depardieu in the title role saw the light of day. It was a mini-series co-produced by Italy, France and Germany. In the film "Monte Cristo" Gerard Depardieu (count) starred in a duet with Ornella Muti (Mercedes). I must say that the series found success among the audience. The excellent performance of the actors was noted by many.

And the film "Asterix and Obelix against Caesar" caused a considerable stir. In the work, Gerard again appeared in a completely opposite way.

By this time, the actor was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for his great achievements. He also became a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.

In recent years, Depardieu continued to work on the set. So, he presented the Russian-French work "Rasputin", where he played the main role. According to him, on the set he discovered such excellent actors as V. Mashkov, F. Yankovsky, K. Khabensky andA. Mikhalkova.

In addition, the actor again played with P. Richard. We are talking about the painting "Agafya".

One of his last works was the film "Stalin's Sofa". In this film, Gerard Depardieu reincarnated as the image of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

Russian citizen

In 2012, the French Prime Minister accused the actor of trying to avoid the luxury tax by buying a house in Belgium. As a result, Depardieu defiantly renounced French citizenship and said that he was a citizen of the world in general.

In early 2013, he became a Russian citizen by obtaining a passport. Then he visited Mordovia. The authorities gave him an apartment and a residence permit in Saransk. In addition, he was offered the post of Minister of Culture of the Republic.

To be honest, the actor then stated that he wants to become a citizen of seven countries, including Algeria. But, basically, he still lives in Belgium.

In 2015, it was reported that Depardieu had renounced Russian citizenship. True, the actor himself immediately said that this was a lie.

In the same year, Gerard was called "persona non grata" in Ukraine. For five years he has been banned from entering Ukrainian territory. Local authorities believe that the actions of the actor pose a serious threat to the national security of the country.

Lovelace

The brilliant actor has always been famous for his love affairs. When he was in drama school, he was able to interest his classmate. Her name was Elizabeth Guigno. In 1970, the lovers got married. They had children - Guillaume and Julie. Subsequently, they also became actors. True, the son in his youth was known as a bully. He also started using drugs. In 1995, he had a terrible accident. Doctors were forced to amputate his right leg. Thirteen years later, due to transient pneumonia, he died.

The second wife of the actor was a dark-skinned model named Karin Silla. In this marriage, a daughter, Roxana, was born.

True, the actor himself claimed that he had about twenty illegitimate children. He managed to get rid of most of them. He paid a lot of money for not disclosing this secret. Of the illegitimate, he officially recognized only the son of Jean. He was born in 2006.

Interesting facts

1. In addition to professional activities, the actor is seriously engaged in winemaking. So, at one time he bought a castle of the twelfth century and a large estate. Its area is 27 hectares. This area is planted with vineyards. To date, Depardieu wines are widely known in all countries. One of the actor's famous wines is called Cyrano.
2. The actor has two restaurants. Both establishments are located in the French capital. In addition, Depardieu became a writer. His cookbook was very popular at the time.
3. Depardieu tries to sing. In any case, his album is sold on the shelves of music stores.
4. The actor was offered to play Taras Bulba in the film of the same name by V. Bortko. But he decided to refuse. As a result, the main role was played by B. Stupka.
5. One of the awards for the role of Cyrano Depardieu did not receive. Since in a conversation with a journalist, he admitted that in his youth he seduced a nine-year-old girl.
6. The hat and sword of Cyrano de Bergerac's character are in Depardieu's house. By the way, he named his daughter Roxana after his beloved Cyrano.